A Fitting Farewell
by DrawnToDarkness
Summary: Adora Cain deserved a better grave than a patch of dirt overgrown with weeds. Pre-Cain/DG if you squint/want to see it.


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Adora Cain deserved a better grave than a patch of dirt overgrown with weeds.

A member of the resistance, loving mother and wife to two of the men who had helped overturn the evil witch in the final battle, Adora was a true hero and, as such, deserved to be remembered as one.

Part of that included deserving a decent burial place, one that could be visited by her husband and son without any unduly painful memories attached.

One that would not be presided over by an iron suit or overshadowed by the rotting remains of a former home.

Anticipating a little bit of a battle on her hands - or at least for one if not both of the stubborn Cain men to tell her to mind her own business - DG was relieved and pleased when, after cautiously making the suggestion, neither men protested. In fact, Jeb surprised both her and his father by taking a leaf out of the younger Princess's book, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug as he fought to keep the moisture shimmering in his eyes from slipping down his cheeks.

"Thank you."

Returning the embrace with a fierceness that surprised her, DG caught his father's gaze over Jeb's shoulder, the whirling emotions in their depths forcing her to look away. "You don't have to thank me, Jeb. It's what she deserves."

Less than a month later, Adora was lifted from her resting place, gently placed into the coffin that had been made for her and was carefully carried from the shadows of the old cabin to the newly opened cemetery on the outskirts of Central City.

The cemetery was for heroes, for those who had fallen during the Witch's reign, fighting for their cause. Although the place itself was less than an annual old, its consecrated ground was already the resting place of far too many.

Her parents had fought her on the idea but Azkadellia had stood at her side and insisted it was the right thing to do. While the Royal Family had been fortunate enough to survive, so many of their people had been lost and both Princesses carried the burden in their hearts. It seemed only right to them that they should ensure that those who fell at the Witch's hand be given a final resting place befitting of their actions, and that those who survived would have somewhere they could go and remember their loved ones in peace.

At the entrance of the cemetery, a large plaque stood. It listed the names of those buried within the walled grounds, a list that grew longer daily as more people came forward and submitted those they'd lost for consideration to the Queen's office.

On a day in which grey clouds all but smothered the twin suns above in a stormy sky, Adora Cain's name was added to it.

There was an honour guard as the procession made its way through the gates, as the Princesses always insisted. Members of the resistance who'd served under Jeb and former Tin Men who'd worked with Cain joined the sombre faced men who lined the way to the burial plot that had been chosen by Adora's loved ones.

Wyatt and Jeb walked behind the coffin, their expressions identical in that they gave away nothing of what either man was feeling.

DG and her sister walked behind them, hands clasped through the thick gloves they wore against the chill in the air, each paying their silent respects to the headstones they passed.

The lives they both felt responsible for.

The service was short, at the request of the Cain men. A few words were said and then the coffin was lowered down into a deep hole in the ground. Afterwards, those who had known Adora or knew the men she'd left behind took it in turn to either speak with Jeb and Wyatt or, in most cases, lay a companionable hand on either an arm or shoulder before walking away.

The Princesses lingered until most of the guests were gone, keeping watch over two of the men who had devoted the rest of their lives to keeping watch over them.

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Anyone still following Tin Man fanfic on here? I've got a couple of DG/Cain plot bunnies circling in my head...


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